3.0 Engine Block flush

[Lamoureux]

Just recently I made the mistake of opening up my radiator cap on my 96 ranger I just bought and found a lot of rust particles floating in the coolant. I know this is sometimes normal but rust me, its worth fixing..... The radiator was rusted up pretty bad and I was looking to do a block flush and install a new radiator and hoses to keep my water pump from going out sometime down the road. I was wondering if anyone had some tips on how to do the block flush, I have never flushed the block before.

Thanks!

 

[RonD]

Unless you can remove a core plug(freeze plug) on each side of the block fairly easy and get a rubber expansion plug back in, you will just need to flush it as best you can.

Block drains are pretty much gone on newer engines.

You should replace your thermostat, which is not hard on a 4.0l, and rad cap, both are inexpensive and do where out.
While the t-stat housing is off and lower rad hose is off, use a garden hose in the upper intake(t-stat hole) to flush system.
remove heater hoses and use garden hose on them as well to flush the heater core, in BOTH directions.
Seal things back up.
Fill with water, start engine and run it for 10 minutes, make sure there are no leaks
Loosen lower rad hose after it cools down, drain system and, if no leaks, fill with 50/50 coolant, run it for 6 months then drain and put in fresh 50/50 again.
Then change coolant every 2 years, normal change time.

 

[adsm08]

If you are that upset about rust in the cooling system run to the Ford dealer and grab a bottle of VC9. Drain as much coolant as you can, put the VC9 in a 5 gallon bucket, fill with water, and refill the cooling system with that mix, run the engine for 15 to 20 minutes, drive it around a bit, and drain it again.

The 3.0 is an older design, and it may have a block drain. I'm really not sure exactly where it is though, if it's even there.

 

[JP02XLT]

You could use one of the flush kits where you put the tee into the outlet hose of the heater core that connects to a garden hose and remove the radiator cap and flush everything out like that, I did that on mine, I used Works liquid toilet bowl cleaner, drain system, fill with water & works, let it idle until warm and then flush with the hose setup, drain & refill with antifreeze. Cleaned block up really well, as this was a JY motor that had sit for a time.

JP02XLT

 

[Rearanger]

For no mess, no fuss, I'd take it to a shop with a flush machine. They can recirculate with an additive and filter out the bad. Might want to do that before new rad etc.

 

[Lamoureux]

Radiator flush

Thanks for the tips guys. I purchased a new radiator, upper and lower hoses, and a new thermostat. I will work on it this weekend and see how it turns out and let y'all know how it goes!

 

[adsm08]

For no mess, no fuss, I'd take it to a shop with a flush machine. They can recirculate with an additive and filter out the bad. Might want to do that before new rad etc.

Yeah, we don't "recirculate". The adapter used to tap into one of the rad hoses has a shut-off valve and bypass shunts. We close the hose off and let the old crap push new coolant in without the two ever mixing on the outgoing side. Just let all the bad crap go right on out with the old coolant.

Recirculating means you are putting the old worn out coolant back in the engine.